Mongolia

The modern state of Mongolia was
proclaimed in 1911, but China
and Russia
competed for control of the new state until November
1924, when the Mongolian People's Republic was established by
native Bolshevik
elements. In 1932, lamas (native priests) led thousands of
refugees over the
border to Inner Mongolia (a part of China) to escape Communist
purges. In 1936 Russia signed a mutual aid pact with Mongolia, and in
the winter of 1938-1939, Stalin
supported a revolution by Khorloogiin Choibalsan, who cemented
Mongolia's status as a
Russian satellite. Choibalsan put down mutinies in the armed forces
near the border with Manchuria
and moved troops loyal to himself into the area.

Mongolian troops generally fought
alongside Russians, as in
the last days of the Pacific War, when Russia seized Manchuria
from the Japanese.
However, ethnic Mongolians in Inner Mongolia
generally sided with the Japanese because of strong anti-Russian,
anti-Chinese
sentiments. As a result, the Japanese had several Mongolian cavalrycorps
under their nominal command at the outbreak of the Pacific War.

The Kuomintang
claimed that, in March 1944, Mongolian troops raided Sinkiang province
under Russian air cover. The reasons for this incursion remain obscure.